


Ren

by orphan_account



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Ib AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-28
Updated: 2014-10-01
Packaged: 2018-02-19 01:50:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2369975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When nine year old Ren visits an art museum thing start to get strange and Ren finds himself and another person trying to escape. Inspired by Ib.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

His mother and father had been talking about this trip for the past month, ever since they'd heard about the exhibit it was all they could bring themselves to discuss. Ren didn't know who Arlert was, besides being some famous artist who'd died years ago.

Armin Arlert's exhibit was a huge deal apparently, he was supposedly a great painter, but paintings weren't all he did, he made sculptures and other pieces as well, but his paintings were what he was best know for.

For a nine year old it all sounded very boring. He'd been to museums before, but they'd had dinosaur exhibits and interactive games for him to play with, a museum with nothing but art seemed like a waste of space, but his parents told him it was just because he was young.

"Eren." They'd say to him with a frown on their face. He hated it when his parents used his full name. "You can't always get what you want. Your father and I love Arlert's work and it'd be good for you to get some exposure to such a great artist's pieces. I don't doubt even you'll enjoy it."

So here Ren was, standing outside Sina art gallery with a frown on his face and a handkerchief his mother had given him for his birthday in his pocket. He didn't like the handkerchief, it had all this lace on it and seemed too girly for a boy to own. He loved his mother though, and it had once belonged to her. She'd told him that he should give it to someone he cared about someday, but hadn't bothered to elaborate on the subject.

"Eren," his father addressed him sternly, as was usual. "Don't disturb the other visitors, okay? I don't care if you get bored, people are here to see art and they don't want a child ruining their experience."

"Ren." The boy murmured unhappily. "My name is Ren."

"Your name is Eren, that's the name you were born with. Eren Yaeger. Don't treat it like something worthless. A name is the first gift every child is given."

"Whatever." Ren muttered under his breath, pushing open the glass door of the museum and preparing for the worst day of his life.

-

The museum was crowded with people, mostly adults with a few teenagers scattered here and there. Nobody paid Ren any attention as he wandered down various hallways, glancing at paintings and sculptures, occasionally stopping and looking at some pieces more closely.

There was a painting of a group of people from the back, all of them wearing green cloaks with wings on the back of them entitled "Wings of something." He didn't know the word written there. He didn't know a lot of words in this gallery, the big fish painting on the floor was named "something of the Deep." It was actually called "Abyss of the Deep, but he didn't know what Abyss meant. Maybe he'd ask his father later.

On the second floor headless mannequins stood in a roped off area, a name plate reading "Death of the Individual." He asked a man what the word individual meant and the man smiled at him.

"An individual is a single person, you or I could be called an individual." He then went back to staring at the mannequins, still grinning. "This is such an interesting piece don't you think?"

Ren didn't like it, the black figures only wore plain dresses in various colors and their lack of heads scared him. He told the man this and was given another smile.

"I think Arlert's saying that if everyone does the same thing it's as though there's nothing making us special."

The boy frowned, not fully understanding what was being said, instead of responding he wandered off, seeing a painting that a short man, possibly a teenager, stood in front of, staring at it intently. Ren leaned around the teen, for now that he was closer he could see the boyishness of his face despite the severe black undercut, and tried to get a good look at the painting. No good, the teen wouldn't move and the child couldn't see what it was.

He moved on, walking down a hallway that was almost empty, stopping in front of a huge painting that confused him. The title was "Something World," and looking at it gave him a headache. The randomness of the piece didn't look like it belonged with the rest of the paintings on display in the museum.

The lights flickered and the classical music that had been playing over the speakers stopped without warning. Looking around Ren found he was alone, all the other visitors that had been in the hallway were gone, even though they had been there only a minute earlier. He had heard them talking with one another about the art.

He started to run, dashing into the room that had the mannequins in it, empty, when it had been packed mere minutes ago. Something strange was going on, Ren didn't like this. He walked to the windows and glanced outside but couldn't see anything, it was like fog had settled in around the museum. He started walking towards the stairs when he heard a banging behind him.

Ren whirled around in time to see a hand pressed up against the glass before vanishing. The boy squeaked with fear but turned his back on the windows before descending to the first floor. Nobody was there, he ran around calling for his parents but got no response. Even the man who'd been behind the counter was gone. It was eerily silent and his footsteps echoed in the empty rooms.

Returning to the huge painting he'd been staring at when thing had gotten all creepy he found blue paint dripping from the frame. Then, out of nowhere, letters appeared on the ground. Huge letters spelling out the words "Come Ren."

Below the painting was written "come down below Ren. I'll show you something neat."

Having nothing better to do Ren walked down the stairs again, his feet making loud noises on the tile floor. In the main room he found blue footprints leading to the fish painting on the floor "Abyss of the Deep" it had been called. The rope in front of it was gone, and the footprints seemed to be telling him to walk on the art.

He touched the paint with the toe of his shoe and was surprise to see the whole piece shiver, as though made of water. The fish swum around inside, tail waving back and forth lazily.

There was nothing else to do, nowhere else to go. The doors to the museum had been locked when he'd checked them, and as much as he hated this it seemed like his only option.

So, feeling like an idiot, Ren jumped into the painting.


	2. The Lady in Red

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two! I feel like this is really boring, just Ren entering the "gallery" I skipped the puzzles because its boring. If you want to play the game Ib because of this here's all I'll say. 166.
> 
> I'll talk more below.

It felt like he was drowning, taking in nothing but water that filled his lungs and suffocating him. He couldn't see a thing, it was so dark Ren couldn't tell whether or not his eyes were open or closed. Was he going to die like this?

Finally, after what felt like hours of floating in nothingness, his feet touched the floor and he found himself in a hallway with walls that were painted a dark blue, and to either side of him rested a door. One door had a table in front of it, so the boy headed towards the other one, only to find it locked tight, he rattled the handle several times before huffing in frustration and striding off towards the blocked door.

It was only then that he realized there was no entrance he'd come through, he'd just appeared in this hallway randomly. The child could have sworn there had been a set of stairs only moments before leading up but the walls were smooth and adorned with more strange paintings.

Written on the floor, ceiling, and walls was the word "come," which Ren found disturbing. He didn't like this part of the gallery and wanted to go back home where paintings didn't cough or drip paint at him which told him to go scary places. He wasn't scared though, just unnerved by all the strange things going on, who wouldn't be?

The table blocking the other door had a glass vase sitting on it, and inside the vase was a slightly wilted red rose. Ren took it, not exactly knowing why he did so. He put the rose back and it bloomed back to life, as though it sucked up all the water the vase had held. He tried shoving the table aside but it wouldn't budge, so he took the rose once more and tried again, and it moved.

After pushing the table aside the boy opened the door, which wasn't locked, and found three things inside the room. The first thing he noticed was a large painting of a woman's face her hair fell out of the frame as if it were real. The second thing was a note pinned beneath it, he couldn't tell what it said from the doorway. Lastly, a blue key rested on the floor in the center of the room, shining in the dim light of the blue room.

Deciding that if he was going to take things from this museum he might as well take everything. No point in doing something if you stopped halfway, besides this key might unlock the door, which could take him out of this creepy place. Ren scooped it up and immediately the painting before him changed, the woman's face contorted into a sinister smile and stared directly at him. The child decided there was no reason to linger in this room and ran out, slamming the door behind him only to find a new horror before him.

"Come" was gone, replaced by new words, written in paint as red as blood. Ren felt cold, like he'd been dipped in ice water as he stared at the word "thief" repeating down the hallway. Somehow the gallery was alive, and it knew he'd taken either the rose or the key, or both, and it was mad.

There was a piece of paper attached to the wall where it hadn't been earlier, and hastily scrawled upon it was "you and the rose are something, know the weight of your own life." He wished he knew what connected meant, but apparently the rose was important so he placed it in the front pocket of the dress shirt his mom had made him wear before walking towards the other door.

Before he'd made it halfway down the hall he stopped, the letter "t" had appeared on the floor before him, followed quickly by "h," "i," "e," and "f." Thief. He was a thief, but the gallery still wanted him here. He unlocked the door and found himself in a large red room with two statues and more paintings on the wall. The statues were titled "ah" and "uh," making Ren wonder just how creative Arlert was. One piece was nice and stood out from the rest. It had been in the gallery! Why was it here now? He leaned forward to examine "The Lady in Red" and a hand reached out for him.

"Gah!" The boy took a step back as the painting fell off the wall, the woman emerging from the frame and crawling towards Ren. He ran towards another door but it was locked. Why were there so many locked doors in this place? The painting was advancing on him, but right in front of where it had hung on the wall was another key.

"This is dumb." He muttered, opening the door and stepping into another room, which held another table with a vase on it, a painting of a vase, and a man lying on the ground.

Examining the man closely he saw it was the teenager he'd seen in the gallery, the one with the undercut. He wore a tattered blue jacket, and Ren couldn't tell whether it was that way intentionally or it had just been worn a lot. The teen's face was scrunched up with pain and when the child poked him all he got for a response was "it hurts." In one hand he clutched a key, which the boy took. He would surely need it in this awful place.

The door closest to him unlocked easily and inside he saw blue rose petals and blood spatters on the ground, another painting woman gnawed on a rose in the corner, but dropped it to chase after Ren. He ran around the room, scooped up the rose and slammed the door behind him.

He stared at the flower in his hand in wonder, there were only two petals left, and he thought back to how his rose had recovered when he'd placed it in water, maybe the same would happen with this one? He dropped the flower in the vase and before his eyes the petals came back and it looked as though it had just been cut from a bush.

Next to him the teen stirred and Ren knelt down in front of him again, staring curiously. Silver eyes peered out from half-closed lids before widening in horror as the black-haired boy leapt to his feet and walked away from the brunet.

"What the fuck do you want from me?!" He demanded, eyes blazing. "I've got nothing alright!"

Then the teen stared at Ren, as though seeing him for the first time, which he may as well have been doing.

"Wait, are you someone from the gallery too?" He ran a hand through his hair and gave a shaky laugh. "You are, aren't you?" The boy nodded. "Thank god, I'm not the only one here. What's your name kid?"

The child answered nervously. "R-Ren. My name's Ren."

He held out a hand, giving a small smile. "I'm Levi. Nice to meet you Ren."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! We meet Levi/Garry! Woo! Major accomplishment there on my part!
> 
> This chapter hated me and I it. I'll try to update it as fast as I can so I can get back to my other fics.
> 
> Now someone asked why Ren prefers to be called Ren and not Eren, there are two reasons for that. One is because of the actual game, Ib. I thought a short, one syllable name would be good and make Eren a little more like Ib and change how people saw him. The other reason will be revealed later on as the story goes,
> 
> For those who have played Ib I will be sticking to the main storyline, I already know which ending I'm going to choose, and if you're looking for romantic development between Ren and Levi I'm afraid you'll have to wait for the sequel.
> 
> Oops, have I said too much?
> 
> There will be a sequel, once I finish this, which will go beyond the framework of the game, after the ending. Feel free to guess what ending I'm choosing, I will neither confirm nor deny anything.
> 
> Thank you for reading. As like all my stories it is unbetaed and I do not own Attack on Titan nor Ib. I wish I did though. Reviews, follows, likes, etc are appreciated.


	3. The Hanged Man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did someone want Levi's point of view? No? Too bad you're getting it anyway.

Levi was nineteen, he was in his second year of college and lived on his own. He used to smoke but was trying to quit, having decided he'd had enough of being controlled by the stuff, in addition to being tired of spending a huge chunk of his cash on cigarettes.

He'd decided to visit the Arlert exhibit out of boredom, it was free to go there so money wasn't an issue. The teen had spent a little over an hour listening to music and looking at the different pieces. It wasn't until the lights turned off that things started to get strange.

Figures banged on windows and paintings coughed or meowed, one piece, a picture of a bowl of fruit, had an apple fall onto the floor and spatter on the ground. After wandering around for a while he found a wall with words painted on it, and an arrow. "This way Levi. Come this way." Stupidly Levi obeyed and followed more arrows to a hallway he was positive hadn't been there before, and upon opening the door it led to things had only gotten weirder.

The teen wanted to go back go his apartment and sleep. He wanted to smoke a cigarette but he didn't have any on him. Damn, he wasn't sure he could take much more of this craziness. His phone had stopped working the moment the lights had flickered, and all he had on him was a lighter and lemon candies, which he ate whenever he craved a good smoke. Levi popped one in his mouth and headed to the next room.

The painting attacked him once he examined it, snatching his rose when it fell out of his jacket pocket and savagely ripping off one of its petals. A spasm of pain wracked his body instantly and he staggered to the door, more pain coursing through him as more petals were torn off. "You and the rose are connected, know the weight of your own life." That was what the note had said and it was true; he was bleeding now, the warm liquid seeping into his clothing and making him feel worse. He locked the door with the woman in it and ran.

He'd lost petals before, but that had been when a headless statue had attacked him and clawed at his face. It seemed that whenever he was injured, the rose started dying, and whenever petals were plucked he got hurt. It was so much fun he couldn't wait to share it with everyone.

Levi had reached the point where he was in so much pain he was unable to walk and collapsed on the ground. He wasn't sure how much time had gone by when he heard movement nearby. Was it the painting woman? No, he'd locked her in the room, it couldn't be her. Was it a statue? Fuck, he didn't care anymore.

Whoever was near him bent down to examine him and prodded at his shoulder.

"It hurts." The teen managed to cough out the words before he felt the key being tugged from his hand. Several minutes later the pain vanished and he was left in a daze before the sound, footsteps he realized, were back and a shadow hovered over him.

That was when he met Ren, a small boy no older then ten in a white dress shirt and red tie with matching shorts; his hair was short and brown, while his eyes were a vibrant green, staring directly at him with curiosity. He said little but took in everything he saw with a kind of calm acceptance, rather than getting scared like most kids would have. Headless statues scratching at him? Merely a nuisance. Eyeballs in the floor? Not a problem. It was almost eerie how fearless the child was, Levi was unnerved by the place and had to do his best to keep his cool, because if he lost it who would protect Ren?

They came to a grey room that was more like a maze than anything else, it's walls held fourteen paintings of woman, exactly the same except for the color of their dresses while statues stood here and there, their lack of faces were disturbing. Porcelain mannequin heads appeared when they left rooms in the maze and when one materialized right behind Levi he almost kicked it into pieces, but Ren had stopped him.

It seemed like nothing fazed the kid until they entered a room with a painting of a man and woman on the wall and all the blood drained from Ren's face.

"Mama? Papa?" He murmured, his small hands clenched into fists at his sides.

"Are these your parents?" Levi asked, already knowing what the answer would be.

"Y-yeah..." He nodded slowly, bottom lip trembling.

The teen frowned, unsure of what to say in a situation like this. Ren had faced everything he'd come up against with no problem whatsoever, but this painting really seemed to unnerve him.

"They look really nice." He told the child.

There was a nod.

"Don't worry Ren, I'm sure you'll see them again." It wasn't exactly a lie, but Levi didn't know if either of them would ever get out of this place and he didn't want to tell the brunet that out of fear it would break him. He pulled on the boy's shirt, tugging him forward and turning the door handle.

It was locked.

"What the fuck?" Levi asked, not caring about using swear words in front of a child. "It was wide open before."

There was a banging outside and the two of them backed away from the door, the teen had one hand resting on Ren's shoulder and wasn't sure if he was pulling the boy or comforting him.

The window behind them broke and a painting leapt at them, another one broke the wall and crawled as fast as she could. The door was still locked so Levi held the kid's hand and dragged him along as the teen ran out the hole in the wall and towards the only door they hadn't been in yet, which was wide open.

They ran down a hallway lined with creepy faces for twenty feet before pausing, both of them breathing hard.

"I think we're safe, they can't get through that door." Levi panted before looking at Ren, who knelt on the floor, his face screwed up in pain.

"Ren, you ok? What's wrong?" The teen was worried now, he'd the child's rose been hurt, had a painting got him? What had happened? The boy's eyes started rolling up in the back of his head, which was never a good sign. "Stay with me! Ren! Ren!"

There was a thud, and Ren fainted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thhhbt. Turning a game into a fanfic and crossing it over with another series is harder than I thought it would be.
> 
> I've been watching Ib videos, playthroughs and music videos. Some of my favorites are After the True End and Ib of the Abyss. Check them out if you've played the game. If you haven't they're kinda spoilery.
> 
> Sorry if anyone is out of character...
> 
> thanks for faves, comments, faves, follows, bookmarks, etc.


End file.
